Process for making dies



Patented Get; 23, 1923.

naiirsnsrares CARL e. ANDERSON, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AssrenonTOIJ'OHN E. swAns oN, or

JAMAICA PLAIN, MAssAorrUsErrS;

PROCESS FOR MAKING DIES.

Application filed December 2c, 1919, Serial No. 347,506. Renewed m 28,1923f T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL G. ANDERSON, a subject of the King of Sweden,and resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Processes for Making Dies, of which thefollowing description, in connection --with the accompanying drawing, isa specification. like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of forming dies andother articles, and the object thereof is to provide a novel andeffective method of, producing irregular shaped dies for cutting, andarticles of similar character, which will enable the dies or articles tobe made more rapidly and economically than invmethods heretoforeemployed. v

Broadly speaking the process comprises associating together'upon asuitable base a series of units having substantially the cross sectionof the completed die. filling the interstices between said units with amaterial which will adhere to, or unite with, said units, and finishingthe composite structure thus formed to produce a die or a pattern fromwhich a die can be cast.

The method of making irregular cutting dies which has heretofore beenpractised is slow and expensive and requires unusual skill, and this isparticularly true in respect to dies which are made for the purpose ofcutting parts of shoes for which dies are required to be prepared forevery size of every part of the shoe in order that the shoes. may bemade ,rapidly and economically. By reason of the number of differentsizes of shoes and different styles of each size of shoe, a very largenumber of dies are required by a shoe factory, and the shape of the diesare changed from seasonto. season for the varying styles. The expense,therefore, attendant upon the production of said dies is necessarilyenormous and adds greatly: to the overhead which must be charged againstthe finished product.

The present invention contemplatesa production of a method. which willnot only greatly cheapen the manufacture of such dies. but will enablethem to more produced. a V a In the usual method employed in tliemanufacture of dies, andiparticularly dies for cutting shoes. the shoemanufacturer furnishes to the die maker a paper pattern corresponding tothe form of die which he desires for the part to be cut. From thispattern a, sheet metal templet is made and from the templet a patternisiformed of sheet metal, such as tin, to'correspond to the completeddie. The die is thereafter forgedfrom a strip of steel to correspond tothe sheet metal pattern, the ends of the strip being welded together toform the completed die which is finishedand ground to a cutting edge. Inthe manufacture-of sole cutting dies, and other dies of large character,a composite strip of metal is used which comprises a section of steelfor the cutting edge which is welded to a section of relatively softviron which 'formsvthe major part of the die, the object being twofold;first to provide a die which will have a body portion of tough materialable to withstand the repeated jars of the cuttingimachine, I

and second, to reduce the cost by using as small amountof expensive andhigh grade steel as is possible. p

The welding together of the ends of such strips. in forming dies,requires unusual skill, by reason of'the fact that the weldingtemperatureo-f the steel and'the iron differs and the steel if heatedtoo highly very readily burns and produces a defective section in thediewhich readily ,breaks 7 down; I

By the present invention dies maybe formed of cast ironwhichmay bechilled or case-hardened, or they maybe made, of cast steel, and whichwill be much "more economical in construction, and quite as effectiveand durable as' the lexpjensive" dies heretofore constructed V ,7

The preferred method is disclosedherein as employed in the manufactureof dies for cutting parts ofshoes' and consists in securiing to asuitable base a seriesof units having a cross section correspondingto-the cross section of the die, uniting the units together to form anintegral structure. detaching the die from the'base and removing themeans by which it was attached to it; then either using the die ascutting die itself, or employing it as a moulding pattern in the castingof suitable metallic dies, pret erably either of cast iron or of caststeel.

Preferred forms of units and the method by which they are associated toform a die. or a die pattern, are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

In the drawings:

"Fig. l is a plan view of a block having secured thereto a series ofassociated units to'form a die adapted to cut the toe portion of thevamp of a shoe. V

2 is a detail. plan view of a series of associated units secured to abase and e:;- tending along the straight and curved portion of theteniplet having the form of the desired piece to be cut.

'3 is a similar view showing .the assembled units secured together andcovered amaterial which will adhere to. or unite with, that or the unitsto bind the same to an integral structure and also to present a smoothouter surface for the die.

Fig. 4 is a side view of one of the units set in a block shown insection.

' 5 isa similar view showing the unit covered with a'coatingj h Fig. 6is a" vertical cross sectional View through a sand mould having a cavityformed bya comp osite die which has been removed from the mould.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view through the die. i

Fig. 8 a vertical sectional view of the die after the same has beenground to a cutting edge.

The novel method comprising my invention consists broadly in applying tosuitable base, such as a block of wood a series of units preferably ofthe same cross section and corresponding in cross section to that of thedesired die. The units may be of any desired form such for example asthat illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 4 and 5. which cornprises slug 2,preferably of sheet metal, having curved, preferably arcuate, nestingfaces 3 and 4, and provided at the bottom with one, or preferably aplurality of anchoringprongs 5 adapted'to be imbedded in the base. Thewooden block which forms the base preferably is a section of wood in thegrain extends vertically, so that are driven into the base in thedirection of the length of the grain. thus enabling the slugs. to bemore easily and firmly secured to the base and without deflectionwhichmight occur itthe samewere driven into the wood transversely of thegra nforming die a ter. plet 6 which has been made corresponding to theform of the desired article, such as a shoe pattern, is laid upon theblock 1 and the slugs are ,driven along the edge of the templet so thattheir narrow edges abut against the teinplet and the transverse axis ofthe slug is sub stantially normal to tie portion of the peripheryagainst which it abuts. Where the slugs are associated in this mannerthe straight edge of the templet they will lie closely together and forma practically continuous unbroken section. since the sur faces ofadjacent slugs are in contact throughout their entire width. l l' here,how ever, he templets are associated together around a curved portion ofthe templet the inner edge portion ofthe slugs will abut, while a moreor less of an interstice 7 will appearbetween the outer edge portions ofthe adjacent slugs or if the adjacent curved faces of the slugs areplaced closely tog in tollowing a gent e curve a more or less irregularer serrated surface 8 will be pro duced along the edge of the templetcorresponding surface upon the outer edge of the die. In either event itis desirable that these interstices shall be filled in in the finisheddie.

When, therefore. the series of slugs have been secured to the base alongthe entire periphery of the pattern a suitable filling; material 9 isapplied which will fill these interstices and will unite the slugstogether. Any suitable composition may be (1-11 loyed for this purposewhich will unite to, or combine with the material of the slugs. Wherethe composite die thus made is to be used for a moulding pattern forcasting integral dies, the interstices may be tilled with shellacplaster-of-Paris or any other suitable adhesive material. Where the cornposite die is tobe used as a cutting die itself the adjacent slugsdesirably are united together by welding. brazing or soldering. so thatthe slugs, which preferably are of stei will he united together to forman into; al structure the interstices preferably being so filled in thatthe finished die will present the same contour as one of the usual diesformed of a strip of steel bent to the proper shape.

When a (lie is thus formed it may be detached trom the base and theprongs 5 milled. filed or ground of? and the die used for cuttingpurposes in the usual manner. Dies hus made may also beemployed asmoulding patterns for casting dies of similar form in the usual wellknown manner. The composite ie. however. may also be employed as amoulding die without removing the same from the base, by imbedding thedie portion in the usual sand mould. The mould um formed as illustratedin Fig. 6 in which the cavity 10 formed in a sand mould 11 isillustrated. the base and die from which the mould is made havingbeen'removed. In the use of such a mould it is only necessary to coverthe mould cavity with the usual flat covering having a sprue holeleading to the cavity through which the material may he introduced intoit. 7

lVhere it is desired to form a die having straight sections or sectionswhich are not abruptly curved different forms of units may be employed,for example, for a sub stantially straight portion of the die a unit 12of wood, or of pliable material such as aluminum, lead or solder may beaffixed to the base and such material may also be employed for sectionsof the die which do not comprise abrupt curves, thereby avoiding thenecessity of using so many of the relatively narrow and thin slugs whichare required to form the contour of sharp bends or angles. When it isdesired, other forms of slugs may be used to conform to specialrequirements.

The units or slugs forming the composite die may be set by hand. butpreferably will be set by suitable nailing machine having a magazine forfeeding the slugs to the hammer and a guide adapted to follow thecontour of the templet which corresponds to the pattern to be cut.

lVhere dies are to be cast from the composite die thus formed, the unitswill be set in the base at such predetermined distance from the edge ofthe templet as will allow for the contraction of the material in themould.

It will be understood that any desirable form of unit or slug may beemployed in the use of the process herein described and that the formsshown in the drawing are merely illustrative of the preferred form ofslug which is new best known to me. It will also be understood thatvarious other modifications in the steps of the method may be madewithin the spirit and scope of the following claims. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: r

1. Steps in the method of forming a die which consist in affixing to abase a series of associated units each having a cross sectioncorresponding substantially to that of the completed die and bindingsaid units together by mate-rial substantially homogeneous with that ofsaid units to form an integral structure and using the assembledstructure as a moulding pattern and casting a die from the mould formedthereby.

2. Steps in the method of forming a die which consist in aflixing to abase a series of associated units each having a cross sec tioncorresponding substantially to that of the completed die, uniting withsaid associated units by a material which will unite with that of theunits to fill the interstices between said units and produce an integralstructure and finishing said structure to the required formof the the,using the assembled structure as a moulding pattern completed die,uniting together the adja-" cent units to form an integral structure,de-

taching the same from the base, removing the means by which said unitswere affixed to the base and finishing the structure to the requiredform of the die-using the assembled structure as a moulding pattern andcasting a die from the mould formed thereby. 4:. A method of forming adie which comprises affixing to a base a series of associated units eachhaving a cross section corresponding substantially to that of thecompleted die. applying to the associated units a material which willadhere to, or unite with, the material of said units to fill. theinterstices therebetween and produce a finished outer surface using thedie thus formed as a moulding pattern and casting a die from the mould.

5. A method of forming a die which comprises aihxing to a base a seriesof associated units each having a cross section correspondingsubstantially to that of the completed die, uniting together theadjacent units to form an integral structure, detaching the same fromthe base, removing the means by which said units were affixed to thebase and finishing the die structure, using the die thus formed as amoulding pattern and casting the die from the mould thus formed. I

6. A method of forming adie which consists in affixing to a wooden basea series of closely juxtaposed sheet metal slugs having anchoring prongsand having a cross section corresponding substantially to that of thedie. uniting said slugs together to form an integral metallic structureand finishing the die to contorm to the desired shape and us closelyinxtaposed sheet metal slugs having anchoring prongs and ha in acrosssect on corresponding substantially to that of the die, uniting saidslugs together to form an integral metallic structure, detaching the diefrom the wooden base. removing the 8. A .inetho-clnf forming 21 diewhich consits in to a woeclen base a. series of closely juxtaposed sheetmetal slugs having anchoring prongs and having a cross sectioncorresponding substantially to that of the (lien uniting said slugstogether to form an integral metallic structure and finishing the (lieto conform to the desired shape, using the finished die as & mouldingpattern and casting a die from the mould formed thereby. In testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CARL G. ANDERSON.

